Upcoming Trip to Haiti

A team of 12 will be going to Haiti Nov. 5-12, 2008. More info to follow! Please pray for us as we prepare to bring in as many shoes as possible and also with your donations feed as many as possible. Thank you!!!

My Story

How it all began. Ria's Story In April 2007 I was watching the Oprah show I saw a women on the program who had collected and donated 85,000 pairs of pajamas to kids in group homes, shelters,etc. I was so inspired by that show that I could not sleep. I tossed and turned and began to cry out to the Lord, "What can I do that will make a difference in someones life? Please God just show me."
As I continued to pray, the message "SHOES" came into my mind. I began to think about shoes; then how would I get them, who would I give them to? I thought about my dear friend Bettie Snyder in Haiti. I immediately got out of bed and wrote Bettie an email telling her about what had just happened and asked if there were a way to get shoes to the kids in Haiti?
The next morning she wrote me back encouraging me to please follow my heart and vision, the children in Haiti desperately need shoes. Just like that "SHOES FOR HAITI'S KIDS" was born. Our goal is 1,000 pairs of NEW sneakers by the end of this year. In June Bettie took the first suitcase full of shoes and the smiles on the faces of the children touched my heart. In November we will bring as many shoes as are donated and give them to the children in the schools, orphanages and wherever we see a need. Thank you for your prayers and support. God Bless you all, Ria Voss

Thanks

Thanks to all of you for your donations to "shoes for haiti's kids". In March a team of 5 went to Haiti to deliver shoes to the children there. We also purchased enough rice, water and bread to feed a village, a school and some orphans. Thanks to all of you who have given money to make that possible. In November '08 we will return to Haiti. We need 500-600 pairs of BRAND NEW sneakers for Fonde School located on top of a mountain. We want to provide every child in that school with a new pair of shoes. Shoes for Haitis Kids has also taken on the responsibility of a small school made of sticks, leaves, etc. We have started to provide them with a meal daily. The cost of feeding that school a meal a day for a month is between $200-$250 a month. As we have all seen in the news lately, the children in Haiti are going hungry and resorting to eating "mud pies" made with shortening and dirt, please help us provide for this small school. I hope that you will take the time to check out this site to see how you can help. God Bless you!
Ria & Frank Voss

Trip to Haiti, March 6-11, 2008

When we arrived in Haiti we were met by the missionary there, Bettie Snyder from Glow Ministries. We spent the day getting the shoes ready to put on the feet of the kids. We went back to Grande Gode School where some of the children had not received shoes the last time because we ran out of sizes. We were also able to give the teachers each a pair of shoes and they were so grateful. Then on to Village 87 where we passed out bread, water, and rice. The people were so grateful and it was such a blessing to walk among them handing them a piece of fresh baked bread that we had just bought from the market. Thank you to all of you who gave extra finances so that we were able to buy food. Our time at Village 87 is always a blessing and we finished our time there with a swim in the beautiful, warm water, surrounded by all the children. They were laughing, splashing, diving and just having a wonderful time of fun with us.
There were 7 teenage girls that Bettie heard about that were kicked out of an orphanage there and left on the street to fend for themselves. A couple with a brand new baby took them into their home and we went and visited them and brought them all a pair of shoes. They were thrilled with their new shoes and really loved the crocs that we gave them. Their smiles made it all worth while. We were so happy to see them being well taken care of.
Later that day we were told about a small "brush arbor" school where the children were so hungry. We went to the market and bought rice and headed for the school. What we saw made my heart heavy. The school was made out of tree limbs and palm leaves, etc. These children are so happy to get an education that they will sit close together on hard benches just so that they can learn. My heart was so touched by this little "brush arbor" school that we would like to start a feeding program for them. It will take about $200. a month to feed them every day, 5 days a week. If you are interested in helping with this school, just e-mail me. We handed them each a bag of rice to take home to their families. Thanks again to all of you who gave money for food. On our next visit (Nov. '08) to the "brush arbor" school, we will bring them new shoes.
On Sunday we headed up the mountains in 2 vehicles. It was the most frightening thing I have ever done. We drove up the mountain on roads full of boulders and potholes not meant for vehicles but for goats and donkeys! And there were NO guardrails. Sometimes we were so frightened that we all held our breath as my husband Frank would make a hairpin turn. We looked down and couldn't see anything, not even the bottom of the mountain. Needless to say we started singing! Thank God for all Franks years of driving for UPS! He took us up and down that mountain safely. All the way up that mountain I said, I will never go up here again, I was so scared! After I got down the mountain I told everybody we were going back in November! Only God can change our hearts sometimes! Our goal on the mountain was to go to Evwa School/Church and put shoes on the feet of the kids there. We took hundreds of pairs of shoes with us and we spent hours fitting the children till we began to run out of sizes. It was such a blessing to see the kids walking around later with a pair of brand new sneakers on, wearing a big smile. Bettie's son Phil Snyder, Glow Ministries from Zeeland, Mi. was also with us and his ministry donated enough food to have a celebration and everyone ate that day, children and adults. What a great time we had in Evwa! Thanks to Glow Ministries, Phil's Mom, Bettie for making that day so very special. As we were leaving Philip said to me, "Ria, there is a school even farther up the mountain with 500-600 kids who need shoes" and I told him with God's help and the generosity of many, we would get those shoes for them and bring them in Nov. '08. That is a lot of shoes!
I want to thank our team, who gave up time with their families, took time off from their jobs and gave of themselves till they were drained of energy!
From left to Right, Josh Sieger, his 1st trip, what a blessing he was and a I know this will not be his last mission trip. Next, Bettie Snyder, my dear friend and missionary to Haiti for over 30 years! I continually thank God for bringing her into my life! She shared her home with us and her cook! Then Dave Mckee from Christian Media Productions, http://www.cvpro.us/ who spent hours and hours putting together a great video presentation of our trip to Haiti! Thanks Dave! Just e-mail me and I will be glad to send you a copy. Next, myself, Ria Voss. Then there is Pastor Nancy Hart from New Hope Ministries of Vero Beach, Fl., a very precious friend. She has been on both trips with Shoes for Haiti's Kids. Her and Pastor Jack Hart have been such a great support to this ministry. Check out their ministry, New Hope Ministries at http://www.hope4you.us/ And then my husband Frank, who is always there, hauling shoes, loading suitcases, driving us up the mountains and never complaining. Thanks to all of you who gave of yourselves, your finances, your time to make this trip one that made a difference to many of the children in Haiti.
Thanks to Phil Snyder and Mom, Bettie Snyder of Glow Ministries of Zeeland, Mi http://www.glowmi.org/ who housed us, feed us, transported us and provided everything we needed in Haiti to make my dream of putting shoes on the children in Haiti so they can have an education. Check out their ministry, they feed over 2000 kids a day! They have given their lives to the country of Haiti for over 30 years. God Bless you Glow Ministries and Bettie & Phil!

September 2007 Trip

On September 27, 2007 a team of 5 left Vero Beach, Fl. for 5 nights and 6 days with 10 suitcases full of brand new sneakers, bound for Haiti! On our team was Nancy Hart, Cindy Ward, Chuck Wilson and my husband Frank Voss and myself, Ria Voss. After collecting shoes since April we were so excited to finally pack them all up and get them on the feet of the Haitain children. When we arrived in Port au Prince, Haiti, we were met by Bettie Synder and Teresa Prange, both of Glow Ministries in Zeeland, Mi. Also, Dr. Marty Schnell, from Tennessee and Dr. Barry Staum from Idaho also joined our "Shoes for Haiti's kids" team.

We started our trip in Haiti with a trip to an orphanage of 100 children. We walked through the orphange hugging, loving, and praying for the children there. Many were severally handicapped and we thank God for those at the orphange that were called to take care of these precious children. Then onto see our dear friend, Beverly Plourde also from Vero Beach, who is helping to take care of the children in the "Baby House" A home where babies are brought there by their mothers because they cannot take care of them. We all were so touched by all the children, full of smiles and just wanting to be played with and loved.

We left there with all our suitcases full of shoes and climbed into the back of the pickup truck and sat on benches as our driver took us to Kalico, Haiti. It was over an hour drive in the back of that pickup truck on roads full of potholes and with the heat in the 90's. We arrived at Bettie Snyders house eager to get started and full of anticipation.

The next day we decided to go to Village 87, a village located about 45 minutes off the main road. We had to drive on a dirt trail and through (and I do mean through!) a riverbed to get there. When we arrived at Village 87 they were so happy to see us because Dr. Marty was with us and he supports the village with food every month. God, bless Dr. Marty for his generosity to these, your people! On our way to the village we had stopped to buy fresh baked bread and water for the people there. It was such a blessing to see the smiles on the faces of these precious people and the kids as we began to pass out the bread and the water. They live in such poverty, I could not believe my eyes as I looked around an saw a metal shed where most of them lived. Dr. Marty noticed that part of the shed was gone and asked them what happened to the shed and was told that some robbers came and took the metal away. Now some of them had to sleep outside. My heart ached for these people. In order for them to get water, they had to walk that 45 minute drive that we just took to get their water. I will never forget them.

On Sunday, we attended church and saw the school that was started by Bettie Snyder and her son Philip, who are founders of Glow Minitries, Zeeland, Mi. After the service they came into a room, 6 at a time as Dr. Marty "washed" their feet with oil and prayed over them and we began to fit the shoes on their feet. Their eyes were filled with excitement as we began to find a pair for each one of them that would fit. We noticed that some of the kids had their "sunday best" shoes on and many had them "stuffed" with paper so that they would "fit" their feet. We continued to fit shoes on the kids at the church/school and after hours of being in that room with temperatures at about 100, we started to run out of shoes for the older kids. My heart was saddened as I saw them standing out in that hot sun, just waiting for their turn. One young man, maybe around 16 years old, showed me his shoe that was half seperated from the sole, I don't know how he walked in them without tripping. We promised to bring them some shoes on our next trip and we left with heavy hearts because we were not able to give the teens new shoes. But still our hearts were full because of what we had just experienced with the children.

On Monday we headed back to Port au Prince to take shoes to the school there lead by Mistro. The children were so eager to see us and we walked through the classrooms that were filled with kids wanting to get an education and thankful that they were able to be there. They all had on uniforms that were made for them and they were so cute! We began to fit the smaller children with shoes and tried to fit everyone that we could, till we again ran out of shoes. It just hurts to see the looks on the faces of those who didn't get a pair of shoes, but we promised that we would be back in January.

Since I have been back home, the images I saw of the poverty everywhere I went in Haiti come crashing through my thoughts. How can we make a difference? We have so much and they have so very little. Their greatest need is food. If you would like to help with that, just e-mail me and I will tell you how you can do that. God has called me to put shoes on the feet of the children in Haiti but I cannot do it without your help. The need is so great. I could see that the shoes they were wearing had been passed down from one person to another to another. The pair of BRAND NEW SNEAKERS that you donate will be worn by not just the person receiving them but will be passed on to another and another till they are worn out. We need 1,000 pair of BRAND NEW SNEAKERS (no canvas please-they do not hold up in Haiti) for our next trip that is being planned for the beginning of 2008.

In Haiti we prayed for God to bless all of you who have so generously given to "shoes for Haitis kids" and we want to thank you again. Without your help, this trip would not have been possible! God Bless you all!

Ria Voss